The Joy of Surfing 01
An ongoing exploration of surfing’s joys.
Just about every way I look at surfing, it’s absurd – a selfish hobby (one person to a wave thanks) enjoyed by tens of millions of people around the world in the only space sharks and humans coexist. We venture into the sea despite our evolutionary maladaptations – no flippers, woeful lung capacity and our best attempt at a blow hole faces the seafloor when we swim. We wrap ourselves in rubber (not enough blubber) to stave off the elements, balance on a seal-shaped chunk of foam and drag ourselves out beyond the breaking waves with spindly arms designed to hang from trees. So why persevere in searching for joy in the ocean despite these overwhelming obstacles?
Let’s start with the waiting. My maths is terrible but I’ve calculated surfing is 80% waiting and watching, 18% paddling, maybe 6% riding waves and the rest is just luck. Waiting in such an expansive space helps the mind slow down to nature’s pace. When I surf, I’ve noticed I absentmindedly slip into a serene state of mindfulness as everything leading up to and falling away from that surf floats away to the horizon.
There’s too much to consider in the present moment to worry about work or doing last year’s tax or even what’s for lunch. That incoming set, the drift sweeping me along the beach, should I paddle further out for that set, was that a shadow, man that sun feels nice, did the wind just swing? Oh god, that set looks good. Maybe I’m in the right position, maybe not. A rare moment of patience – I wait there. Here it comes!
Then, if everything lines up as I planned (more often by chance really) and I happen to be in the precise spot to dance with a wave, my mind races with giddy joy. How wild that the resulting physical form of a storm’s wind gust thousands of kilometres away can spike such unique joy. So much happiness all because I got to wiggle my bum and swoop my arms to try and make my foam stick go faster to make splashes before the wave dashes itself onto the beach – ridiculous. So we sit in the sea and we wait – salty skin and smiling minds. Watching different bumps and lumps on the horizon ambling towards us, dancing with waves and watching the world from the sharks’ backyard. There’s nowhere else I’d rather wait.
